


Death Do We Part

by Watchtower (atbucud)



Series: Superhero Soulmate AU Spin-off [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Gen, Mentioned Alfred Pennyworth, Mentioned Bruce Wayne, Mentioned Dick Grayson, Mutual Masturbation, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader-Insert, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:41:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26791558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atbucud/pseuds/Watchtower
Summary: When you live in a world full of superheroes, there are worst things than meta human villains, invading aliens, and psychotic clowns. One of them is having a soulmate.Some say it’s better because your other half is easier to find, but they’re not the one who has a hero or a villain for a soulmate. You do.You and Jason Todd are soulmates and you share a physical empathy link. But yours is a lot more sensitive so when Robin was killed, so were you.
Relationships: Jason Todd/Reader, Jason Todd/You
Series: Superhero Soulmate AU Spin-off [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953703
Comments: 13
Kudos: 117





	1. You and Jason Todd Died

_Jason, don’t forget your homework this time._

_Oh crap! Thanks for reminding me, Y/N._

You roll your eyes as you say goodbye to your parents. You rush to the next block over just in time to see Jason stumble out of his apartment building. He falls and scrapes his knee. You both shout and wince at the same time.

“Jason! I thought you were going to be more careful. Are you trying to kill us before high school?” Jason laughs and grabs your hand. He drags you to the bus stop and you make it just in time.

Jason was careful. Both of you had your fair share of paper cuts, bumps, and bruises. But neither of you have ever sprained or broken anything. It sucks when one of you gets sick though.

“If I sneeze, are ya gonna sneeze too?” Jason says with a nasally voice lying in bed next to you. His dad was always out and his mom had to work so your parents offered to take care of him while you’re both sick. They basically only have to take care of one child anyway.

“I don’t know. We haven’t tried that one,” you smile and rub the bridge of Jason’s nose. He purrs. “That feels good, huh? It feels like I’m unblocking your nose.” You and Jason laugh.

“Y/N with the magic fingers. Gotham criminals beware!”

Your parents hush the two of you and threaten to make you sleep on the couch while Jason sleeps in your bed if you two don’t rest soon. You grab each other’s hands under the blanket and immediately close your eyes until they leave the room.

You open your eyes and Jason is staring at you, pouting. You take out your other hand and stroke his warm cheek. He closes his eyes to lean into your touch then opens them again. “Pops hasn’t been home in days. My mom thinks he’s run away or dead in a ditch somewhere.”

You frown and pull Jason close to you. “You’re always welcome here, Jason.”

He knows that. He knows you mean it but he couldn’t just take advantage of your kindness like that. So when his mother runs away and he’s left alone in an empty apartment for three days straight, Jason decides it’s time to be a man and take care of himself.

You don’t know what’s going on with Jason. He would still come out of their apartment building and go to school with you but you know he’s a little off. The first signs you pick up on are the pangs of hunger. No matter what amount of food you eat, your stomach growls and it feels like it’s eating itself.

When your mother asks you to bring a pot of leftovers to the Todds, that’s when you realize who the real culprit is. You march over to their apartment building and find the door unlocked, the lights off, and there’s a silhouette of a boy crouching in the corner of the unfurnished apartment.

You kneel down next to him and find that he’s awake but refuses to look at you. You call his name but he ignores you. You pinch your arm hard and it makes him jump. He hates it when you do that.

Jason devours the food in seconds, eating straight from the pot with a big wooden spoon. Little by little, he managed to survive by selling their furniture but he still had to ration whatever money he had so he only ate one meal a day. Jason laughs, “but when ya pig out, Y/N, I get so full. I don’t even have to eat more than that if ya think about it.” You don’t find that funny because you don’t think the link actually works that way.

He frowns and looks at his hands.

He wants to tell you that he’s being kicked out of the apartment tomorrow. He doesn’t want to use his meager amount of money to pay for rent when he can just survive in the streets.

He doesn’t say a word. He lets you stay with him until it’s late and he walks you back to your place.

He doesn’t go to school the next day. You go to their apartment to scold him but find that’s it locked because new tenants were moving in soon. You ask the landlord about Jason and he tells you he’s been gone since last night.

_Jason, you idiot. Just stay with us. Mom is making your favorite tonight._

He doesn’t reply to your messages anymore and it’s making you more angry than sad. You sit in your quiet room and close your eyes, “Where are you, Jason?” you mutter before concentrating on what you feel. You try to distinguish the sensation inside your room to what he’s feeling outside.

You can feel humid air around your skin and sweat drenching the tips of your hair. He’s outside under the Gotham summer heat. You concentrate harder and you can hear footsteps and voices in the background. Foot traffic, so the streets? But which one? Then you hear it. The unmistakable sound of gunshots and running and police sirens. He’s in one of the worst parts of Gotham. Then you smell it, the lingering scent from Marco’s Bakery. He’s in the Narrows

You grab the leftovers and sneak out through your window. You try to make yourself small as you enter one of the worst parts of the city. You would take the alleys and hide behind dumpsters every time you hear shouting. Then you finally find him lying on flattened cardboard.

You kick him in the knee, bracing yourself for the sensation. He gets up quickly and his eyes widen at the sight of you. You drop the leftovers in front of him and glare. “If you don’t want to talk to me anymore, then fine. But at least eat.” 

Walking away from Jason is hard but you know his pride won’t let him eat the food in front of you. You’re nearly home when you suddenly feel satiated. You do this every night. Leaving him food in that particular alley even when you stop finding Jason there.

It suddenly becomes something Jason would count on because you have always been the only one he can rely on. After a day of thievery and barely surviving he would smile on the way back to his flattened cardboard where your family’s homecooked meal would still be warm.

One night, Jason is astonished to find the batmobile in his alley. He’s admiring its size and fortress-like structure when he realizes that it had run over the food you left for him. Motivated by anger and vengeance, he finds a way to steal the hubcaps off of the batmobile’s wheels.

“I’m sure you know who you’re stealing from.” The menacing voice shocks Jason and he turns around with a screwdriver in one hand. He takes a moment to appreciate the sheer size and intimidating stature of Batman.

Then he glares at him and kicks his shin, “Yeah! Yer the big boob who ran over my dinner!”

Batman is instantly puzzled. He narrows his eyes to one of his wheels and finds pasta littered on the floor and a ruined plastic container.

Two nights after that, you’re dropping off Jason’s food and you’re surprised to find him standing in the alley in fresh clothes and a wide grin on his face. You narrow your eyes in an instant, “Did you finally inhale too much Joker gas or something?”

“Y/N, you’ll never believe it. Oh boy!”

Jason walks you away from the Narrows and back to your neighborhood. He tells you about running into Bruce Wayne the other night, leaving out the fact that he’s Batman.

“He said I reminded him so much of himself when he was younger that he couldn’t imagine not adopting me,” he boasts with his thumb brushing the collar of his new shirt.

You roll your eyes and of course, you don’t believe him. But then you arrive at your house and there’s a limo in front of your building. The door opens and Bruce Wayne steps out. Your mouth hangs open as he approaches you.

Jason smirks and snaps his fingers in front of your face, “Y/N, I’d like ya to meet Bruce Wayne. Brucey, this is the friend I was telling ya about.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Y/N. Once Jason’s settled in at the manor, we’d be more than happy to invite you and your family over for dinner.”

You gulp. Because honestly what else can you do? The richest man in Gotham is outside your house and he’s Jason’s new father.

But Jason never did invite you to the manor. In fact, ever since he became a Wayne, you saw him less than never.

_I miss you, Jason. Why are you avoiding me this time?_

For Jason, that was anything but an easy decision. It was never really Bruce that invited him to his home. It was Batman. And Jason knows that if Batman finds out he has a physical link with a civilian, he would stop letting him be Robin.

So he dedicated all of his time to being a good son, a model student, and a fierce sidekick. Subduing criminals before they get the chance to land a blow on him. Whenever Bruce tells corrects his movement and his fighting style, Jason always takes his criticisms to heart because it’s not just his life on the line.

Whenever you’re missing Jason and it gets too much, you lie on the floor and close all of your senses again. You imagine him lying on a thousand-thread-count cotton bed or warm in front of a crackling fire while laughing and drinking tea with Bruce Wayne and his butler.

But all you get is whiplash. The wind is strong and harsh against your face. Your hair is flying up while you’re lying on the floor. You can also smell the smoke of the steaming sewers wafting into the Gotham air. 

Jason’s out in the night and from your heavy breathing and aching muscles, you can only guess that he’s happy and exhilarated. Your breathing labors against your chest and you can feel the muscles along your jaw strain hard. Jason’s laughing.

You roll on your side and smile at the thought of Jason enjoying his life. You miss him.

Then it happens.

You’re out with friends at someone’s sweet sixteen party and you’re wearing a dress just like everyone else. At first, you’re laughing, something someone said about a joke you haven’t yet heard. 

Then suddenly your whole body is thrown back as a blow to your head knocks you against the table. You use your elbows to support yourself and you watch as everyone stares at you.

A phantom weapon hits your back and you’re kneeling on the floor, coughing out blood on someone’s shoes. That’s when the screaming starts. But you can’t listen to them now. No, you need to focus on Jason. What the hell is happening to him?

Another blow to your back makes your body drop flat on the ground. Your lip bleeds when your teeth tear into them as you hit the ground. You groan. This is the most pain the two of you have ever been in and you think you can also feel Jason’s fear.

“Hand me a pen!” you scream before a blow to the side of your ribs flips you onto your back. You cough more blood and you desperately try to sit up as one of your closest friends hands you a marker.

“I called your parents. They’re on their way. What’s happening, Y/N?”

You don’t know. You don’t know. You try to write as legibly as you can.

_Wats wrong_

You wait for a response. Then something happens. It forces your eyes to look up and you think you see something intangible floating in the air. A crowbar? Then it comes crashing down against your ribs and you hear bones crack. Your friend screams, too afraid to touch you.

You think one of your ribs splintered and your lungs have collapsed. It’s too hard to breathe. It feels like no air is coming into your lungs. You rest your head to the side, staring at your arm. 

Slowly, words start appearing, smeared in crimson blood.

_I’m sorry, Y/N. I lov_


	2. You and Jason Todd come back to life

A crowbar? Then it comes crashing down against your ribs and you hear bones crack. Your friend screams, too afraid to touch you. 

You’re having trouble breathing now. You think one of your ribs splintered and your lungs have collapsed. It’s too hard to breathe. It feels like no air is coming into your lungs. You hang your head to the side, staring at your arm. 

Slowly, words start appearing, smeared in crimson blood.

_I’m sorry, Y/N. I lov_

Your parents arrive at the Wayne manor the very next day, worried, asking about Jason. Bruce and Alfred are shocked to find out about Jason’s physical link with you. They apologize over and over again for your death. They tell them it was a skiing accident. Jason went too fast and fell.

Bruce comforts your parents and offers to pay for everything from the wake to the burial. Your parents’ request that they hold the viewing together, with you and Jason side by side.

Before the wake, Dick had arranged with the funeral parlor that your bodies are to be viewed in the same casket. They had made a double casket and laid the two of you next to each other. Your mother touches your cheek before she clasps your hand in Jason’s.

A lot of people attends the wake. The first round of visitors fills the venue with people you don’t know. Celebrities. Politicians. Millionaires and billionaires. Your families has no energy to turn them away. The last few days of the wake, the crowd dwindles, only leaving those that knew you. Your friends from the party visits every day, comforting each other, recalling what they had seen.

Your parents, Bruce, Alfred, and Dick can hear them. In the end, they too can picture the way you two died. Bruce insists that you and Jason be buried next to each other. “I believe it’s what they would’ve both wanted.”

Bruce, Alfred, and Lucius carry Jason’s casket while Dick and your father carry yours from the car to a plot of land on Gotham Memorial. Your parents adamantly refused a mausoleum and burying you on Wayne property would hinder them from visiting you as often as they wanted.

At Gotham Memorial, they carefully lay down your caskets and say their goodbyes. Dick stares at your arm and at Jason’s which had Jason’s last words written on it. The parlor re-wrote it at your mother’s request. She wishes you could have been together, happy and alive. Not 6 feet under Gotham soil.

Your family and the Wayne family stay until everyone leaves. Bruce pays the gravedigger to leave the shovels and go home. He takes off his blazer, rolls up his sleeves, and starts heaving dirt onto Jason’s casket. Your father follows suit and he cries as he buries you. Dick takes over when he gets tired and your father hugs your crying mother until there are only mounds of dirt on the ground.

✧ ✧ ✧

Jason rises up from the glowing green waters of the Lazarus pit, gasping and coughing.

You gasp awake inside a casket, hitting your head on the wooden door.

Jason is knee-deep in the water but his chest is heaving, greedy for air.

You’re hyperventilating, screaming, and banging against the roof of the casket.

Jason’s knuckles and palms are hurting, stinging.

You’re panicking. You don’t know what’s happening.

Jason doesn’t know where he is or who he is.

You cry out Jason’s name and start pinching your arm.

Jason winces and turns around to find no one around who could have touched him.

You can hear something hit the casket and you’re screaming for help.

Jason hears footsteps striding down towards the pit.

Your eyes are blinded by the moonlight but it’s quickly covered by a black cowl.

Jason waits for the woman to reach him at the edge of the green water. “Hello, Jason.”

✧ ✧ ✧

Batman pulls you out of the casket and onto level ground. He’s staring at you and gripping your shoulders, wondering if you’re real.

You’re crying and blabbering and then you remember, “Jason! What about Jason!”

Quickly Batman digs at the grave next to yours. You kneel beside him, waiting for the first sighting of the wooden casket. You almost jump down into the hole when Batman pries it open. But you stop and stare wide-eyed at the empty casket.

Your instincts quickly set in. “Batman, do you have a pen or anything I can write with?”

He quickly gives you a pen and watches you write on your arm.

_Jason! Can you see this? Are you okay? Please write back!_

Talia has her back turned while she escorts Jason around the fortress. He sees writing appear hastily on his arm and quickly hides it. Talia points to a room and orders Jason to get changed before he’s presented to her father.

As soon as the doors close, he looks at both of his arms. One was talking to a person named Y/N and the other writing had called to someone named Jason, the same name Talia had called him. He looks around the room until he finds a fountain pen and some ink. He dips his fingers in the ink to write back.

_Who are you? How are you doing this?_

You look at Batman who’s already staring at the new writing on your arm. He frowns. Jason is alive but his memories are lost. Faster than the bat, you write back.

_It’s me. Y/N. Your soulmate. We have a physical link. I feel what your body feels._

Jason doesn’t believe it even when the magical writing says it so. He decides to try it out and stabs his hand with the fountain pen. New words suddenly appear on his arm.

_Ow! Don’t test it, you dummy!_

Jason’s head whips around the room. He goes to the curtains, looks under the bed, and examines the closet. When he can’t find anyone, he laughs.

Jason doesn’t reply to you for hours. When the sky starts chasing away the darkness in place of dawn, Batman leads you to the batmobile. You sit in the passenger seat, staring at your arm, waiting.

“You can’t go home,” Batman says matter-of-factly while he drives.

“I know,” you say. “I don’t plan on going back until I find Jason.”

Batman purses his lips, “Y/N, there’s something you need to know.” So Batman tells you everything. You’re shaking your head as he pulls down his cowl. You laugh and tear up when you imagine Jason flying through the skies of Gotham. And then, after a minute of silence, Bruce asks you about your death. Jason’s death.

You look out the tinted window as your lips quiver. You’re the only one that remembers everything now. Jason is off somewhere thinking he just woke up from a nap while you have to tell Batman about each phantom blow that broke your bones and your souls.

He listens and doesn’t offer you words of comfort when you cry. He waits for your sniffling to calm down before he tells you about Jason, his mom, and the Joker.

“He found his mother, but it was a trap all along, set up by the Joker.”

“His mom… is she?” Bruce shakes his head. “Oh god,” you hide your face in your hands. “She didn’t even know that was her son. Jason just wanted to see her. Ask her why she left him all alone.”

You arrive at the cave and you’re surprised to be greeted by both Alfred and Dick. They hug you as if you’re family. As if this isn’t the first time you’ve met them. Dick keeps staring at you and your arms. He smiles when he finds that Jason’s last words are still there.

“I’m sorry. Have I met you before?”

Both Alfred and Dick frown. What could they say? They know everything about you. Your parents. Your life. Your death. That week of arranging your funeral made them feel as close to you as they were to Jason. You are their only link to him now.

“Y/N, I need you to tell me more about your link.” 

The three of you turn to Bruce who’s taking off his cape and standing front and center like a mission briefing is about to begin.

“Master Bruce,” Alfred starts, “Y/N just came back from the dead. Maybe it’s best to let her rest for a while.”

“No,” you whisper, “If you think we can use our link to find him then I’m in. I want to start now.”

✧ ✧ ✧

Jason lies in his new bed for hours, waiting for sleep to come to him. It doesn’t. After his meeting with Ra’s Al Ghul, he’s been itching to talk to this person claiming to be his soulmate. He looks at his arm. His previous messages have been rubbed off except for the small writing near his wrist that has his soulmate’s name on it. 

He rubs it with his fingers and it doesn’t come off. Jason wonders if he’s the one that wrote it. It’s unfinished but it’s clear what the message was going to be. Why didn’t he finish it?

He grabs the ink again and starts writing on his arm with the fountain pen.

_Y/N._

There’s no reply and he’s getting impatient. He uses the pen to stab his palm. He only waits a few seconds for words to appear again.

_Jason! Where did you go? Did something happen? Are you okay?_

He stares at the string of messages and wonders who’s writing to him.

_Also, STOP DOING THAT._

Jason laughs and he sits up on his bed.

_I want to know who I am. Tell me everything._

You’re still in the cave. You were lying on the medical table, trying to drown out your senses so you can find him. You don’t feel or hear anything for hours and Dick has already gone home. Alfred’s gone to bed and it’s just you and Bruce in the cave.

When you jump up because of the sensation on your arm, you catch Bruce’s attention. When he sees you writing, he walks closer. You show him Jason’s request.

“Ask him where he is.”

_I’d be happy to, Jason. But first, you need to tell me where you are so I can come and get you._

Bruce talks to you while you wait, “It might not be a good idea to tell him everything if his memories are gone. He might be unstable.”

You disagree. “What about me? I’m back from the dead and I’m just peachy.”

“You still have your memories. Jason could be alone or being held hostage right now. Think about how he would react to hearing about what happened two years ago.”

Two years ago. This is the first time Bruce has told you how long you have been dead. You and Jason would be 18 by now. Graduated from high school and old enough to live together in your own little apartment.

“Are you okay?” Bruce asks gently. You wipe your tears silently.

_I don’t know. Wouldn’t tell you if I did. They would kill you._

You stare at Bruce whose brows are creasing together. You write before he can speak.

_Who are they, Jason?_

Jason mulls over the writing on his arm. He’s growing impatient at the lack of information in this conversation. 

_Fact for a fact, Y/N. Nothing in this world is free._

Jason relaxes his head on his pillow and waits. You take your time this time and Jason is a little annoyed. You’ve been replying quickly, as if without thought, but now you’re not. He already expects your next words to be lies.

Then. There’s a barrage of words that litter his arm.

_I can’t believe you! You may have lost your memories but you sure do remember how to be a jerk! Your name is Jason Peter Todd, aka asshat. You’re officially 18 years old but still act like you’re 9. You were my neighbor in Gotham City and I’ve seen you naked hundreds of times that I know you have a birthmark on your right hip that’s shaped like a perfect circle!_

Jason instantly blushes and stands up. He quickly takes off his garments and locates the mark on his hip. It’s definitely round. Perfectly round.

_Why have you seen me naked?_

Bruce shifts where he stands and goes back to the computer. “Tell me if you find out anything.”

You almost forgot he was there. You end up writing back and forth with Jason the whole day, unsuccessfully extracting any information that might help you. But successfully teasing him about the things you did when you were younger.

You only guess that it’s been more than 10 hours when Alfred comes down and berates Bruce for keeping you up for so long. He confiscates your marker and locks you in a room against your will until you’ve completed at least 12 hours of sleep.

“That should be enough for someone who’s defied death.”

When the door closes you rummage the room for any writing material but find none. You slump on the bed and run your fingers over the last writings between you and Jason until your eyes close.

You wake up due to a strong pinch on your cheek. You look around the room and find it empty. The sun was already setting. You stare at your arms and find your name and Jason’s written over and over. You smile and use your fingers to write his name slowly and heavily on your arm.

_You’re finally awake._

You rub your fingers at his words and wish you could write back.

_Not replying, Y/N. Does that mean you don’t love me anymore?_

You frown at his words. He couldn’t possibly think that? As dense as Jason can be sometimes, even without his memories, he shouldn’t forget just how much he means to you. You lightly pinch your arm as a response. But he doesn’t write back.

You lie back down on the bed and wonder when Alfred is going to let you out and possibly give you a pen. You’re supposed to be finding Jason after all. Even if the idiot isn’t being any help at all. You sigh.

“Do you really think I could stop loving you?”

You stare at the back of your hand and then slowly bring it close to your lips.

It’s an odd sensation. Jason almost doesn’t feel it but something soft and moist had pressed itself against the back of his hand. He feels it again, leaving a trail that runs along the shape of his palm.

Curiously, he brings his hand close to his lips and guesses where the next mark will be. He kisses it.

You pull away immediately. You felt chapped skin pushing back against your lips.


	3. You and Jason Todd touch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW Chapter

It’s an odd sensation. Jason almost doesn’t feel it but something soft and moist had pressed itself against the back of his hand. He feels it again, leaving a trail that runs along the shape of his palm.

Curiously, he brings his hand close to his lips and guesses where the next mark will be. He kisses it.

You pull away immediately. You felt chapped skin pushing back against your lips.

You stare at your hand for the longest time and no feeling comes back to you. “That was definitely a kiss,” you whisper. You close your eyes, numbing your senses from what you can feel in this room and try to imagine Jason.

You gasp when you feel something sucking on your thumb. With your eyes shut you can feel his tongue wrapping around your finger. His teeth are grazing your skin. He opens his mouth and you can feel his hot breath all around your wet finger.

_Hey, Y/N._

You’re breathing through your mouth when his next words come.

_Have we ever done it?_

You haven’t. It’s not that you didn’t want to but more like you never got the chance. You were barely fifteen when Jason moved away. You bit your lips. Would Jason have wanted to? Would you?

_One pinch for no. Two for yes._

Your fingers hover over your skin before you pinch once.

It’s a while before Jason writes anything again. Was he waiting for a second pinch? Expecting it?

_Do you want to try it now?_

Oh.

You sit up quickly. OH. Your mind is screaming. Never have you and Jason ever attempted to even exploit your link like that. You never even considered it. Question after question flood your head. Has Jason always thought about these things? Is this the amnesia Jason talking? Is it the teenage hormones? Do you want to?

_Do you want to?_

You bite your lips harder and bury your face into the pillow. You muffle your scream because how? How do you do this?

_Forget it._

You quickly stand up as you see the writing on your arm. Without thinking, you pinch yourself hard. Twice.

You feel stunned as you wait for his response. You’re standing awkwardly near the bed, wondering if you’ll be doing this lying down or standing up.

The next sensation you feel is completely unfamiliar and absolutely exciting. At first, it was just a ghostly touch of a hand moving down your navel. Then suddenly the area between your legs is on fire. You’re actually not sure what it is because it doesn’t feel like your clit or your pussy. But it feels good.

You should definitely be lying down for this.

You close your eyes and it’s so easy to shut everything out and just feel his hand. You can already see it, Jason lying down with his hands in his pants, stroking his cock while he thinks of you.

You gasp when you feel a pinch on your nipple and then he’s playing with them using his calloused fingers, rubbing them and flicking as they harden.

The touching stops and you wait patiently. Writing starts appearing on your arm.

_Do something. Touch yourself, too._

You blush furiously and hide from no one in the room. You wonder if he feels the sudden heat on your skin. You gulp before you hitch up your skirt and pull down your panties. It’s wet and you throw it away on the floor. You clench your legs together while you think about this.

_Y/N._

What’s there to think about? This is just two teenagers masturbating to each other. Two teenagers with a physical link, who just came back from being dead for two years, and you’re half-naked in Bruce Wayne’s house!

Jason pumps his cock, making you open your legs on instinct, all thoughts completely discarded and forgotten. It already feels like your pussy is stretching, hungry for Jason to enter you. Your hands make their way to your clit and you whimper with your mouth open as you touch it.

Jason suddenly sits up in his bed. “What the hell was that?” he’s breathing loudly. You start rubbing your clit in circles and press it against your pelvis. Jason’s moaning. He throws his head back until he’s lying down again and he forcibly shuts his eyes.

“God, that feels so good.”

He pumps harder and you bite your lips to keep yourself quiet. You turn over, propped on your knees while your face and shoulders are digging into the bed. You bring your other hand down between your legs and start fingering yourself.

“Fuck, Y/N,” Jason grits his teeth. He pumps faster and your fingers try to match his speed. You’re rubbing harder on your clit and breathing quickly through your mouth.

“Oh, Ja–”

“Miss, L/N,” Alfred is knocking on the door.

You stop and quickly pinch your arms several times all over while you put your underwear back on and fix the disheveled sheets. But then you realize you were supposed to be sleeping. The sheets should be unruly. So Alfred walks in carrying folded clothes while you’re flapping the duvet in the air and breathing harshly through your mouth, sweat running down your forehead.

He raises an eyebrow.

“Uhh… I was just making the bed.”

He places the clothes on the bedside table then helps you fix the bed. “I take it you would like a shower after everything.”

“What.” You tense, eyes wide and lips harshly closed tight.

This time, both Alfred’s eyebrows go up. “I don’t know how it works really but I thought you would feel a little bit sticky after being in a casket for so long.”

You laugh. It’s too loud and too forced and you have to slap yourself to stop. You quickly notice the string of words appearing on your arm and you quickly hide it from Alfred.

Suddenly, Alfred frowns. “Is that… Master Jason?”

You don’t know what to say. Who else could it be. Alfred knows it’s him but after what you just did, you don’t think he should really see what profanities Jason could be coming up with right now. 

Alfred waits for a few seconds but you don’t say anything. He cups his breast pocket and then procures a pen to hand to you. “Do tell him I said hello and that… he is dearly missed.”

You immediately feel like you’re plunging down a well and the water’s not high enough to get out but it’s deep enough for you to drown. After Alfred closes the door behind him, the sound of his footsteps receding down the hallway knocks you back to reality.

You’re supposed to be helping Bruce find Jason. This isn’t the time to be using your link like this.

_What the fuck, Y/N! What happened? Helloooooo? Are you still there? Don’t tell you came and fell asleep! That’s so not fair and I would’ve felt that! Y/N!_

You run through your words in your head because the next thing you say has to be something Jason will listen. You need to do something to get him to help you bring him home but you can’t tell him anything about his life. You uncap the pen Alfred gave you.

_Do you want to come back home, Jason?_

He doesn’t reply right away and you just feel like you should add more.

_To your family? To me?_

You stand alone in the room, staring at your arm, and tapping the pen against your leg.

_I don’t even know who you are._

His words leave a sour taste in your mouth and suddenly your eyes are stinging. You throw the cap away and you’re writing on your arm using your whole fist.

_JASON, YOU ASSHOLE!!!_

You start sobbing loud and you crouch down until you can hide your face between your knees. You vaguely hear rushed footsteps coming toward the room.

“Y/N, what’s wrong-” Dick’s voice cuts off the moment he takes a look at you. He rushes to your side and slowly kneels down beside you. “Hey…” he whispers soothingly. You look up and his hands are hovering, waiting to see if you’re okay with him touching you.

You cry harder but this time you press your face against his collarbone and he hugs you tight, rubbing your back and brushing your hair. His soothing voice whispering in your ear, “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not! Jason’s an asshole! He doesn’t want to come home! He doesn’t remember me. He–” You cry harder and louder instead of finishing your sentence.

Dick keeps holding you. What else can he do? He feels just as helpless as you do and it’s devastating to him as well. Jason was– is his brother. So he holds you tighter, more for him this time.

He waits until you’ve calmed down, almost an hour later. He walks with you to the bath Alfred prepared. But you stand awkwardly in front of the door. Dick peeks at you from the side and sees you staring at your arm, at the small writing, at Jason’s last words.

“We can write it again after your shower,” Dick watches you flinch, forgetting he was there. “I’ll find some industrial markers that’ll only come off after a hundred showers or an acid bath or something.”

He’s smirking when you turn to him, but your expression is serious. “Will you write it for me?”

Dick looks at you for a second before he offers you a small smile, “Of course. I’ll even make sure it’s in Jason’s ugly handwriting.”

That makes you smile. ‘Finally,’ Dick thought, ‘Progress’. So you leave him in the hall and you scrub yourself in the tub. Jason’s last words dissolve away but the asshole Jason’s writings are still on your arm.

Looking at the last sentence he wrote doesn’t even make you angry. It just makes you wish you weren’t linked to him right now. You just want to drown in the tub and not worry about drowning somebody else with you. For the first time in your entire life, you wish you weren’t linked to Jason.

True to his word, Dick greets you after you’re clean and clothed. He’s holding up a box of markers that are clearly labeled ‘Industrial Strength’. You laugh and promptly offer your arm. But it’s the wrong arm and Dick gets a glimpse of some of asshole Jason’s writings.

You blush but quickly retract your arm and offer the right one. Dick blinks for a moment before he slowly takes it. You can see him debating whether he should pry into what he just read or not. You don’t know which lines he saw but you don’t want to talk about either.

“Did Bruce find anything?” you say quickly.

Dick gives a slow sigh as if relieved by the sudden change of topic but also disappointed in what he was about to say. “Bruce did place surveillance around the cemetery, in case the Joker–” his body tenses.

“I know,” you assure him. “Bruce told me.”

Dick rolls his eyes, “Of course, he did.” He opens the box to fish out a marker, “Luckily for you, the motion sensors his paranoid-ass installed in your casket still works. So he was able to get you out as soon as he did. But the cameras on the grounds and the sensors in Jason’s casket were all tampered with just a few days ago. Maybe a week tops.”

“That’s… too bad.”

He chuckles as he uncaps the marker and holds your arm while he writes. “It’s not all bad. This actually gives us a useful timeframe since you and Jason came back to life at the same time.” He pauses to return the lid and inspects his work. You’re staring at him, waiting to listen eagerly for what happens next.

“That means it took a whole week for these people to bring Jason back to life and to move him to wherever this creepy ritual happened. No offense.”

You shake your head because how can you possibly take offense to that. Despite everything, you’re happy to be alive.

“So Bruce is either looking for a place where it takes a week to smuggle a dead body into or people that can revive the dead in a week?” you ask.

Dick chuckles and nods his head, “Pretty much.” You give him a confused look, half frustrated as well. “Don’t worry. Bruce has worked with much less and he wouldn’t have lasted in this business for this long if he weren’t the best.”

That hurt. Dick flinches as well when he realizes that was definitely not the right thing to say. Before he can apologize, you hold up your arm to look at the writing. It looks exactly like Jason’s writing in his notebooks, not like the rushed, clumsy, and desperate writing before he – you died.

“I wanna help, too. Can you take me back to the cave?”

Dick looks like he still wants to apologize so you grab his hand and start dragging him down the hallway. “Alfred took me through a Grandfather clock in the study. It’s this way, right?” Dick shakes his head and finally walks beside you.

“Alfred’s going to kill you if you don’t get something to eat first.”

You clasp your stomach and it’s only now that you realize you haven’t eaten in, well, two years. But you’re not hungry. You suddenly guess it’s because Jason’s been eating well. At least that means he’s not being tortured or held prisoner. Right?

“Not like I haven’t been dead before,” it’s a bad joke and you know it. Dick flinches when he hears it but you don’t have the heart to take it back. You just want to get to the cave already. Dick opens the clock and holds out his hand for you to follow. You go down the stairs and into an elevator shaft, all in silence. The descent to the cave feels darker than before.

But the moment you start seeing the cave and its lights, you spot someone in a red tunic jumping down from the walls, a black cape with a yellow underside trailing behind him. It’s Robin.

The moment the shaft’s doors open, you run out and crash into Robin’s back. You’re hugging and rubbing your face against him.

“Please. Please tell me I’m not dreaming. You’re here,” you pull away to turn him around, “You’re actually—”

It’s not him. His hair is black but it’s straight and swept neatly to the side. His eyes aren’t the same shade of the blue and green you know but more like a mix of steel and blue. His eyebrows are thinner. His nose and mouth are smaller. He’s not even the same height.

Robin rubs the back of his neck and smiles shyly, “Oh, are you a fan?”

This is wrong. Everything is wrong. You thought Jason was Robin. But this isn’t Jason.

Dick stomps from behind you and goes straight to Bruce. He’s yelling, “You haven’t told her!”

Bruce narrows his eyes at Dick, “It wasn’t important for her to know.”

“Not important?!” Dick scoffs in anger, “You told her Jason was Robin but you don’t think she should know that Tim is Robin now.”

Your eyes widen, “You replaced him.” Your voice is louder than you expected it to be. They’re all looking at you now. “How long?” You stomp past Robin until you’re a foot away from Bruce, “How long did you wait before you replaced him!”

Your voice echoes in the cave and the only reply you get are their stares. You start laughing hysterically while looking around the room. “Is that what Robin really is? Someone so replaceable? You just find stray kids in Gotham and turn them into your little soldiers!”

You’re breathing through your mouth and you close it immediately. You walk right up to Bruce and glare up at his tall figure. “Jason died. As Robin. He was Robin. And he died because of you.”

Bruce doesn’t flinch. You keep staring at him, waiting for a reply. Then a thought hits you and your eyes widen. “This is why you don’t want him to know everything,” you’re whispering now and looking frantically at the ground, “If he finds out… Even with his memories, you’re afraid he’ll turn against you.”


	4. You and Jason Todd are over it

Your voice echoes in the cave and the only reply you get are their stares. You start laughing hysterically while looking around the room. “Is that what Robin really is? Someone so replaceable? You just find stray kids in Gotham and turn them into unknowing soldiers!”

You’re breathing through your mouth and you close it immediately. You walk up right to Bruce and glare up at his tall figure. “Jason died. As Robin. He was Robin. And he died because of you.”

Bruce doesn’t flinch. You keep staring at him, waiting for a reply. Then a thought hits you and your eyes widen. “This is why you don’t want him to know everything,” you’re whispering now and looking frantically at the ground, “If he finds out… Even with his memories, you’re afraid he’ll turn against you .”

Jason tosses and turns in his bed. He stares at the last words he wrote to you and the empty space where yours was hours ago. It’s true. He doesn’t know who you are. He doesn’t even remember who he is.

He grunts and sits up. He stares out the small window of his room. His cell. His prison. Ra’s and Talia told him he was free to go any time he wanted. What a cruel thing to say to someone who doesn’t know where he is. Not to mention wherever he is is surrounded by mounds and mounds of sand drifting endlessly with the harsh winds.

“Yeah,” he sighs to himself, “like hell.”

What does he even tell you? ‘Y/N, I think I’m in a desert somewhere. You have to look out for a secret base that’s heavily guarded by hundreds of assassins trained to maim intruders on sight.’ Knowing you for just a few hours, he already knows you would rush out and probably get yourself killed trying to save him. Then you’re both dead. Again.

“No thanks,” he jokes to himself. “Not again. Not for a looooong while this time.”

Jason suddenly grits his teeth and buries his face in his pillow, angry that he’s just talking to himself. But how can he talk to you now?

Sleep doesn’t come to Jason. The moment the sun peeks over the sands outside his window, there’s a knock on his door. Talia doesn’t wait for his answer.

“It’s time, Jason.”

She stands by the door. Jason grunts loudly and throws the blanket aside. He walks behind Talia as they enter the main chamber of the fortress.

When Jason last entered this chamber, there were hundreds of assassins clad in black just standing around, stiff and on alert. There was an old man seated on the floor in the middle in colorful garments of red and orange with some green accent. Jason almost laughed at how his mustache hung down the side of his face because of how long it was.

Now, though, all the humor has definitely left him. There’s only the old man sitting on the floor, Ra’s Al Ghul. Talia’s father. The leader of the League of Assassins. The deadliest secret army in the world. And they had asked Jason to join them.

“Have you made up your mind, young man?” Ra’s asks the moment Jason and Talia stood in front of him. Jason doesn’t answer and doesn’t look at him. Ra’s narrows his eyes at the boy and then glares at his daughter.

“Perhaps, father, some incentive will tip his decision toward the League.”

That definitely caught Jason’s attention, “What kind of incentive?”

“Information,” Talia smirks before she turns back to her father. “Knowing about his past will do no harm.”

Ra’s tightens his lips before nodding. Talia sits down and waits for Jason to do the same.

“What do you want to know first?” she asks.

Jason mulls it over. What does he want to know first? Should he ask about you? Do they know about your link? How much do they actually know about him really? Should he just go for the painfully obvious?

“How did I die?”

Talia smiles as if it was the right question to ask. “You were murdered. You were with your mother,” Jason flinches, “Trapped in a warehouse that was rigged to explode the moment a vigilante called Batman arrived near the perimeter.”

Jason’s eyes widen and Talia stops talking. This is definitely too much information. And not enough information at the same time. Why isn’t she saying anymore?

“Did the Batman rig the explosion?” he finally asks.

Talia raises an eyebrow, “Him? No. The man who killed you is a madman who murders for no reason. The Joker.” She pauses while Jason takes it in. “Batman,” Talia says the alias with softness, “he was trying to save you. The Joker has always been a thorn in Batman’s side and a menace to Gotham– that’s where you’re from. He’s always trying to push Batman to his limits, trying to find a way to get him to defy his most-honored code: no killing.”

Ra’s makes a small sound, somewhere between a sigh and a grunt. Talia continues, much gentler this time, placing a hand on Jason’s leg, “He used your death for the same cause.”

“I don’t understand,” Jason is frustrated, “why me?”

Ra’s speaks up, “You’re Batman’s partner. You were also his adopted son. Bruce Wayne’s adopted son.”

Jason’s eyes widen. He shifts his eyes between the two of them, wondering if they’re lying. From everything you have told him, he knows that his parents both left him and he chose to live on the streets. Now Jason understands why you never told him anything beyond that. It’s too close to this. It’s the cause of everything.

“These names may not mean anything to you now, but once your memories return, you’ll know.”

“And did he?” Jason’s voice raises their curious glances. “Did he kill the Joker?”

“No,” Talia answers him, her eyes narrow as she stares into the distance behind him, “No, my dear. It’s clear that his code is the single most important thing to him. Over anyone.”

Jason clenches his fists. “I’ll do it. I’m in.”

✧ ✧ ✧

You wake up in your new room from someone knocking. You groan and bury your face deeper into the pillow. Your body feels heavy and fatigued even though all you’ve done for the past couple of days is sleep. Ever since your confrontation in the cave, you have less hope of making Jason cooperate and lesser will to help Bruce in his search.

The knocking continues. Louder this time and more incessant than all the other times. You want to stomp to the door and yell at Alfred but none of this is his fault. It’s all Bruce. If he hadn’t adopted Jason, the two of you would be working right now, living paycheck to paycheck, in a studio apartment, maybe with a dog. At most you would be together.

You hear a key jamming into the lock and you shoot up right away. You run to the tall window and hurry it open. When you’re holding the frames and getting ready to climb out, a familiar voice chuckles behind you.

You turn to Dick, standing by the doorway, amused. “Breaking your legs might get Jason to start talking to you again. Sure.”

You glare at him and then smile. You step away from the window frame and run to him. He catches you in his arms and hugs you. “You were gone too long!”

Ever since your fight with Bruce, Dick has been the only one who’s upfront with you with everything. He kept you company whenever you felt lonely and he would update you with everything that’s going on with the search for Jason. But two days ago he left to take care of something in Bludhaven.

“Next time, please take me with you. I don’t think I can lock myself in this room any longer.” Dick frowns and then turns his head to the side, avoiding your gaze and biting his lip. You narrow your eyes and sigh, “You’re leaving again, aren’t you?”

“The Titans need me. I’ll be gone for a month, at most.”

“A month!?”

“I’ll call you every chance I get, okay?” Dick chuckles, trying to lighten the mood. Then he stops and looks at you with a serious expression, “But you know, you should really start talking to Bruce again.”

You suddenly feel betrayed, “I have nothing to say to him.”

But Dick was having none of this today. Your sulking attitude has been going on for days and it’s not helping anyone. “If not to him, then do it for Jason. Tell him about Jason, about the things you might be feeling that can help find him.”

His words just make you angrier. He sighs and pats your head. “You know he blames himself, right? For everything. He’s hurting too.” Your resolve is weakening because Dick’s voice is turning into a whisper, “He loves Jason, too. We all do.” 

He tries to look at you while you look at the ground. Finally, you return his gaze. “So I’m asking you. As a favor for me. Stop hiding in Jason’s room and go help Bruce.”

You don’t. But you do stop locking yourself in Jason’s room. It turns out that the manor is empty most of the time. Sometimes you’d find Alfred in the living room or one of the many studies every now and then and talk to him. He smiles every time you strike up a conversation. 

You’re surprised to hear he knows so much about you and your family. Then a little sad when you find out why.

“Would it make you feel better to know that a lot of people attended?”

You shake your head, “Did my… did my parents cry?”

“Your mother was always trying to hold back her tears and your father cried when he and master Bruce buried your caskets.”

Your eyes quickly water and you have to look away from Alfred to rub them harshly.

“Ah, Master Tim, you’re back.”

“Yeah I was–” Tim stops the moment he notices you. You try to make yourself small and look away, stubbornly ignoring your tears, hoping he won’t notice. “Oh sorry.” It’s the first time you’ve seen Tim again since finding out he’s the new Robin. In civilian clothing, he really does look nothing like Jason.

He may be close to Jason’s height when you last saw him but Tim’s limbs look longer because of how slender he is. You wonder if he can actually hold his own in a fight. Can he protect himself?

Tim turns to leave, “I’ll just–”

“No, wait,” your voice surprises Tim, Alfred, and yourself. “I’m… sorry.” You rub the back of your neck but continue to avoid looking at him, “None of this is your fault. It doesn’t even have anything to do with you.”

Tim gives you an uncertain smile and chuckles a little, “Thanks? I guess.”

You don’t reply because you just feel embarrassed. That was a stupid and resentful thing to say.

“Oh hey,” Tim walks up to you while pulling out his phone. “We were checking out the surveillance at the graveyard and thought maybe you would want to see this.” He shows you a video of your friends visiting your gravestone. At first, it looks like one of them is crying and then someone hugs them. Quickly, unexpectedly, it turns into an intense makeout session over your grave which makes you cringe.

“You have a messed up sense of humor, don’t you?”

Tim places a hand on his hip and smirks, “Comes with the job. Pretty much a requirement if you want to work with the fairy godmother of Gotham.”

And just like that, you find that you don’t mind Tim so much. He’s not Jason but he can be your friend. You can definitely go to him to badmouth Batman once in a while. He seems to be good at that.

Then Tim sees the thin slash appear on your cheek before you even feel it. It shocks Alfred onto his feet as well. “Y/N, your cheek!”

Tim runs out of the room to get the first aid kit while Alfred asks you a barrage of questions. “Are you okay? Does it hurt? Is it master Jason?”

Slowly, you touch your cheek and feel the sting of an open wound. Your fingers are smeared with blood. “I don’t know…” you whisper in a panic.

Tim comes back and immediately dabs it with a gauze. “It’s not deep. But it’s definitely a clean cut. A bullet or a sword.”

Neither of those possibilities makes you feel better at all. You immediately take out the pen Alfred gave you on your first night. 

_Jason are you okay? Are you in trouble? Are you hurt?_

The three of you wait for his reply, standing in a circle with your arm in the middle. After several minutes, Tim narrows his eyes and gives up. He goes through the first aid kit and takes out some antiseptic and a smaller gauze.

You let him tend to your wound but you never take your eyes off of your arm. Alfred finally sighs, dejected, and closes his eyes. He holds the back of his chair for support before heading for the door. “I’ll inform Master Bruce. Please tell us right away if there’s news.”

“You should go, too,” you mutter loud enough for Tim to hear.

He looks at you for a second but you’re still staring intently at the clear skin on your arm, waiting. Tim finally turns to go and closes the door behind him. You stand there for hours. You can see the sun’s rays dimming behind you.

Finally, Alfred returns. He looks upset the moment he sees you. He sighs and calls you for dinner. You shake your head and turn away so you don’t have to see him. 

When he closes the door you immediately remember Dick. He’ll probably tell him what happened, how you’ve gone back to making no progress at all. Why are they obsessed with helping you anyway? They should be more concerned with Jason right now. Like you are.

_Did it hurt?_

The words are clear even in the partial darkness and your hands shake as you immediately reply.

_No. I didn’t feel it. Are you okay? What happened?_

You finally sit down slowly as you watch more writing appear on your arm, making you relieved.

_Just some exercise. Got a bit careless. I’m okay._

It’s the most Jason has ever written to you, the most he’s been civil and sympathetic since you came back to life. You hope he doesn’t stop writing.

_By the way, I found out about how we died._

You gulp immediately. Your pen is hovering over your arm when his next words arrive.

_I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have had to go through that. How come you didn’t tell me?_

You’re angry again and tears are pouring down your cheeks.

_No, Jason. It’s not your fault. It’s not! I didn’t tell you because I knew you were going to blame yourself and_

And? And what? Bruce told you not to tell him? Because he would never come home? You bite your lips.

_reminding you of who you are is more important than that._

You cringe as you write it. It’s true but you also know you’re using it as a lie to cover up the truth. You quickly write something again before he does.

_I would die ten more times for you. If it means we can finally be together._

Jason laughs and a small blush is growing rapidly along his cheeks. He finds your tenacity amusing.

_Have you always been this sappy? Did I write corny shit like that back to you?_

You almost scoff at his reply. It’s nice to see that his personality still hasn’t changed. You smirk and look at the small writing Dick had done on your other arm, the arm you and Jason don’t write on because of the last thing he wrote. You circle it and write beside it.

_Like this?_

You feel a little smug but then there’s a long pause and then his writing.

_Did I write that just before we died?_

You bite your lips and rest your head against the back of the chair. You pinch yourself twice. You still know how each blow felt like and sometimes your muscles would spasm when you see it in your head. The moving room. The floor meeting your face. That crowbar that you now know was used to beat up Jason.

You can still feel the sudden sucking air before the huge blast knocks your body away and the loss of all feeling before you even hit the ground. You lost your consciousness mid-air. You wonder if it was because of the strength of the blast or the sensitivity of your link, but from what Dick had told you, your body was thrown against the wall by an invisible force.

You hug yourself and watch new writing appear.

_Did it hurt?_

You lay your head to the side. Exhausted from this conversation. Already tired of this second life.

_Jason, please. Come home._


	5. You and Jason Todd have sex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (NSFW) WARNING: No rape but the narrative sort of resonates it. Don’t let the summary fool you. This is not a happy one. For the benefit of those who can’t read this, I’m going to mention the events of this part in the next one so you don’t need to read this to appreciate the whole story.

You bite your lips and rest your head against the back of the chair. You pinch yourself twice. You still know how each blow felt like and sometimes your muscles would spasm when you see it in your head. The moving room. The floor meeting your face. That crowbar that you now know was used to beat up Jason.

You can still feel the sudden sucking air before the huge blast knocks your body away and the loss of all feeling before you even hit the ground. You lost your consciousness mid-air. You wonder if it was because of the strength of the blast or the sensitivity of your link, but from what Dick had told you, your body was thrown against the wall by an invisible force.

You hug yourself and watch new writing appear.

_Did it hurt?_

You lay your head to the side. Exhausted from this conversation. Already tired of this second life.

_Jason, please. Come home._

Jason didn’t stop talking to you after that. When he finally realized that you had nothing to do with everything, that you were just a victim, even more than he was, he felt that he could trust you more. It also helped that his memories were slowly returning ever since he found out about his death.

_At least I never accidentally called my friend’s mother ‘mom’._

_How? Are your memories back? Do you remember everything now? AND THAT WAS ONE TIME._

More than ever, he tries to avoid any topic of where he is and you’re more than upset by this. Most of the time the past was all you talked about. He would boast about his Robin days and tell you how exciting it felt and the fulfillment he experienced from putting bad guys away.

Sometimes he would talk about his exercises with the League but lying about its nature and intensity. At least you finally realize why your body always feels fatigued. 

However, he did become more careful after that. There were no more cuts, not even a bruise or a stinging slap. But not because Jason was getting better. No. It was because he stopped putting himself in danger, just dodging and retreating.

This made Ra’s Al Ghul very disappointed.

“At this rate, the boy will take over the Bat with old age on his side.”

Talia purses her lips, “Jokes, father? I thought that was beneath you.”

“No, daughter,” Ra’s approaches his daughter, “this boy is beneath the League. We need to take him out of his comfort zone and release the anger simmering inside. The same anger that got him killed.”

“But father–”

“With our training, daughter, it won’t get him for a second time.”

Talia stands silently by the sidelines until Ra’s approaches her on his way to leave the balcony where they watch Jason and Sensei training. “Do it now, daughter.”

Jason sees them and he knows they know he’s slacking off. The moment Talia approaches them, Sensei has already finished training Jason and walks off after a bow to the Demon Head’s daughter.

She stands with her arms crossed and looking down at Jason.

“Let me guess,” he starts, “Not enough shoulder in my punches?”

Her eyes narrow, “We are not teaching you how to maim, Jason. We want you to act on instinct. Be resourceful. Be merciless. So you can kill your enemies before they can even breathe your name.”

Jason clenches his fist, “There’s only one person I want to kill so I can get my life back.”

Talia raises an eyebrow, “And you think you can take him on now? With the way you are? You would be dead a second time before you even meet his eyes.”

He turns away from her, gritting his teeth. Talia sighs and places her hand on his shoulder. “There is another thing you have to know. Follow me. Please.”

There’s a sudden change in Talia’s demeanor. Her voice is softer and she never says please. Jason could already feel it in his stomach that this is not good news. He follows her down the corridors until he’s in an unfamiliar room.

It was a lot bigger and it looked a lot nicer than his room. He stands awkwardly near the door when he realizes it was Talia’s room. She pulls out a brown envelope from the drawer in her desk. She sits down on her bed and pats the space beside her.

“You would want to sit for this.”

All awkwardness had vanished and Jason is hesitant now. He wonders if it’s something he wants to know. Something he needs to know. Talia leaves the envelope on the bed and waits for Jason to open it himself.

The moment he touches it, she speaks, “Why do you want to go back to your old life, Jason?”

Jason instinctively pulls down on his sleeves, “Because it’s my life.”

“The League can be your life now. We didn’t bring you back for you to simply die again.”

Jason scoffs, “Trust me. I’m done dying for the next couple of decades.”

She narrows her eyes, “You’ll die as soon as tomorrow if you don’t start taking your training seriously.”

“I’ve already had training!” Jason blows up, “You’re training me to be an assassin. Not just any assassin but into one of your little drones here in the League. I don’t want this life.”

“Jason, we do good work here. We help citizens trample their oppressors and help societies be reborn from the ashes of their failures–”

“You mean the ashes of their families! Men! Women! Children! Guilty and innocent! You just kill everyone.”

“We are trying to do good just like Batman.”

He scoffs with so much disbelief that Talia would even say that, “He doesn’t kill–”

“But you want to,” Talia holds his hands, trying to calm him with half-lidded eyes. “Once you kill the Joker, that scum on this Earth who kills for joy, Gotham can never be your home. Batman will never accept you.” Jason stays silent and Talia presses on, squeezing his hands, “If he asks you to choose, could you walk away from killing the Joker in order to have your old life back?”

“I–” he stammers before he thinks about it. Then he really thinks about it and he doesn’t know.

Every time he gets flashes of his last memories, his blood boils and all he can hear is the incessant maniacal laughter piercing into deep wounds that are no longer there. Then he remembers you. Feeling everything he felt. Every single blow. Every slam against the pavement.

Before Jason could find his answer, Talia gently lets go of his hands and holds out the envelope to him. In a whisper, she says, “There’s nothing for you to go home to, Jason.”

Jason’s thoughts melt away. He stares at the envelope and grabs it. He doesn’t know what to expect. He opens the envelope and his fist is already clenching the photos as he takes them out, “No— what.”

They’re images of Batman fighting crime in Gotham city with another Robin. There are no dates on it but he knows in his gut it’s not Dick Grayson and it’s not him. It’s a new Robin. His new Robin.

To Bruce, it has been two years. But to Jason, he was his Robin just weeks ago.

Jason keeps staring at the photos with his mouth wide open but no word could come out. Talia touches him. She waits until he looks at her.

“This can be your new home. We can be your new family and the League always takes care of its own.” She watches something behind his eyes change, soften, no, break. Slowly, she pries his fingers open until the pictures fall onto the ground. Jason just keeps staring at her as her hands wrap around his neck and pull him onto the bed with her, above her.

“I wish you would stay. Stay here,” she brushes his hair, her eyes half-lidded, making Jason’s do the same, “with me.”

You’re down in the cave, listening to Tim tell you about school and ignoring Batman sitting by the computer when you feel it. You touch your lips to find that they’re quivering, or it’s your fingers that are shaking because that was definitely a kiss.

“Hey. You okay?” 

Suddenly numb to everything around you, you can feel soft lips pressing hard against yours, moving intensely, hungry. When a tongue forces its way into your mouth, playing with yours, it feels like something is lodged in your throat, making your body bend over to gag.

“Y/N!” Tim holds your shoulders but you quickly slap them away. Bruce is standing now and making his way to you.

“What do you feel?” he asks.

What do you feel? You feel like vomiting. You feel like someone is invading your space. You feel like you’re growing insane because you don’t want this but at the same time, it’s making you feel good.

“No… no…” you grumble. “It’s not me. These aren’t mine…”

Bruce’s eyes narrowed, “Is it Jason’s?”

You blink and your eyes are blurry with tears when you open them. Who else could it be? But this means. Jason is…

When you feel it, the abrupt touch on the ghost limb between your legs, you know exactly what’s going on. “I can’t–”

You run deep into the cave until you can no longer hear Tim or Bruce’s voice but you know at least one of them is chasing after you. “Please don’t follow me!” you scream as loud as you can and the last of their steps echo into nothing. 

You lean against the jagged wall and the darkness envelops you until you can’t hear your own strangled cries, corrupting you until all you feel is Jason having sex. 

Her touch on his skin. Her tongue on his collarbone. Her hand tangling in his hair, pulling him to her. Her wet pussy’s walls pressing down on him until Jason can’t hold it in anymore– until you can’t hold it in.

When he comes, it feels like ecstasy. Like you’re on cloud nine and your eyes are half-lidded in the darkness. You’re breathing loud and it’s labored with saliva pooling in your mouth. Then as the crash came down, all you’re left feeling are your own emotions. You feel violated. You feel repulsed. You feel cheated and betrayed.

You weren’t the one having sex but your body didn’t feel it like it was its own. Like she was touching you.

You drop onto your knees as you heave, vomiting every single remnant of your last meal until only acid is crawling slowly up your throat. You cough and retch some more, willing for everything to leave your body and your mind. This isn’t something you want on your skin. In your memories. You don’t want this.

“Y/N,” Tim’s voice is a whisper in the darkness. You wouldn’t see him even if you looked. You push your face down closer to the ground, coughing and screaming. Screaming loud. “Y/N!”

“Don’t touch me!”

Your voice echoes in the darkness, like a shield permeating outward until it hits Tim and makes him stop in his tracks.

“Don’t touch me…” you whisper.

Tim doesn’t make a sound. He doesn’t come close. He doesn’t do anything but stands there in the darkness like another one of the cave’s walls. You scream at the ground again, your strangled voice laced with frustration.

“I don’t want this link anymore!” you heave in breaths as words come out of your mouth like acid vomit, “I don’t want it! Take it away!”

Tim waits patiently, his fists clenching and unclenching as your screams surround you like a blanket piled on top of each other. Words coming out before one was even finished. Until finally your words turn into murmurs and sobs. Intermittent sobs because Tim can hear now that you’re hyperventilating.

He doesn’t touch you but he kneels down so close it almost makes you want to vomit again.

“Y/N. It’s me, Tim. It’s just you and me here. No one else.”

You close your eyes. To you, he’s lying. You can still feel the slender and soft fingers combing your hair and legs wrapped around your thighs. 

You crouch lower, willing yourself to not adjust to the darkness. Still heaving breaths like you’re drowning.

“Y/N, you can stop the link. You just have to stop thinking of Jason.” You stare at the ground in front of you. You can almost see it. Tim watches you and waits for your breathing to change before he keeps going. 

“Feel the ground beneath your hands. Let your fingertips rub the rough surface. That’s it.” Some rocks become uprooted and they roll under your fingers. You can also feel the coldness and dampness of the cave. 

“You feel that? Focus on how it feels. That’s all you. That’s just you.”

Hours. It was hours before you sat up and leaned against the wall. Tim never moved a muscle while he waited. You can feel the cold wall soothing your back and you focus on that feeling. You focus on your feelings. Your breath, your heart, and the things touching your own skin at this moment. These are your own and no one else’s.


	6. You lose Jason

“Y/N, you can stop the link. You just have to stop thinking of Jason.” You stare at the ground in front of you. You can almost see it. Tim watches you and waits for your breathing to change before he keeps going.

“Feel the ground beneath your hands. Let your fingertips rub the rough surface. That’s it.” Some rocks become uprooted and they roll under your fingers. You can also feel the coldness and dampness of the cave.

“You feel that? Focus on how it feels. That’s all you. That’s just you.”

Hours. It was hours before you sat up and leaned against the wall. Tim never moved a muscle while he waited. You can feel the cold wall soothing your back and you focus on that feeling. You focus on your feelings. Your breath, your heart, and the things touching your own skin at this moment. These are your own and no one else’s.

Ever since Jason found out about the new Robin, his replacement. Ever since he had sex with Talia. Ever since he made the decision to dedicate himself to training with the League, he would always sleeve his arms and stop waiting for your words to come.

It didn’t matter anyway. After you felt everything. After crying in the darkness for hours. After Tim and Alfred stayed with you while you put yourself in what seemed like a catatonic state, you stopped thinking of Jason.

The only thing you can’t stop is feeling what he felt. Alfred would panic when he sees knife marks suddenly appear on your arms. Tim would quickly wrap your ankles every time they’re sprained. Even Bruce would catch you every time you’d be knocked onto your back.

Then there was that one time when you were on a video call with Dick, something you two do every night without fail ever since the incident, and something punched you in the gut and blood splattered all over the screen. 

“That’s it. I’m coming home.” 

You wiped the camera and your mouth, “What’s that going to do?” Dick’s face instantly fell and you regret it right away. “I’m sorry. I’m just… this is worse than dying.”

“I’ll be home soon, okay? And I won’t leave again until we find Jason and we drag his sorry little ass back to the cave.”

You smiled but quickly hid your face by turning to the side. “I… don’t think I want to be here when Jason’s back.”

“Y/N,” he called you and you already knew what he was going to say, “What happened? Why is he doing this? Did he say anything?”

You continued looking away and then turned to him, “Bye, Dick. Talk to you tomorrow night.”

You waited for him to relent and finally say goodnight before you hung up.

It took months before you even smiled again. It’s the week before Dick’s finally coming home after time and time again of ‘another week,’ ‘just another month,’ and ‘it’s not too good here right now.’ 

You’re on the balcony watching Bruce and Tim spar before the sunset. It’s one of those mandatory outdoor training sessions Alfred imposes so they could get some fresh air for a change.

For no reason at all, Bruce is having a good day and he’s feeling a little… mischievous. He keeps dodging Tim’s attacks by using his momentum against him. Bruce would purposely redirect Tim into the hedges.

“Master Bruce, at this rate, we’ll be calling the gardener in a day early and Master Tim will swallow enough leaves to join miss Ivy.”

You snort loudly on instinct. Too fast for you to muffle with your hand and loud enough to catch the attention of the three of them. They all turn to you like deers caught in the headlight. The four of you stare at each other for almost a minute.

Tim turns to Bruce who smiles at him and then turns to you and shouts, “Join us?”

Alfred rolls his eyes, “Yes, of course. It’s not like Y/N has enough bruises and cuts these days.”

Tim teases Alfred before plucking a leaf from his hair, “We’ll go easy on Y/N. No injuries. I promise.”

You suddenly feel giddy at the thought of play sparring with Batman and Robin. For the first time in months, you feel like there’s something you want to do again. That you want to feel something that’s your own fault this time.

With adrenaline coursing through your veins and impulsive decisions making the height from the balcony look shorter than it is, you climb over the railing to jump down.

“Y/N!”

“She’s crazy!”

You’ve seen them do it hundreds of times in the cave, in the training room. Heck, Tim and Dick do it inside the manor more than walking. You make sure to land on your feet, tuck your head in, bend your knees, and roll along the length of your shoulders until you’re back on your feet.

Bruce and Tim smirk as you get up while Alfred stomps his way toward you and checks you for any injuries. “Goodness! What were you thinking?” 

Too proud of yourself and too happy that it worked, you laugh and hug Alfred in excitement. “Did you see that? I just jumped from the 2nd floor. Alfred, it was amazing!”

Before Alfred could retort, someone was cutting through the lawn with a duffel bag thrown over his shoulder. “You call that a somersault? I gotta have a word with your trainer!”

All of you stare at Dick. He’s already in front of you before you could call out his name. He drops his duffle bag, snatches you from Alfred, and lifts you up into a hug. 

“You’re back early!”

“Yep!” when he puts you down, his face is suddenly serious and Bruce and Tim have already gathered around him. All of you stand in a circle and it instantly feels like a mission briefing. “I found him. I mean… I only know who has him.”

You froze. Who else could he be talking about?

“Do you want to stay for this, Y/N?” Dick asks you. You nod. After everything, finding Jason is still a priority. “This isn’t going to be good news.”

“Y/N can take it,” Bruce says and you wonder if he really believes that or if he’s just starting to get impatient.

“Tell us,” you say.

Dick gives you one last look before he nods, “Okay. First, you need to know how I found out. Every night when you and I would talk, some of the Titans would see you because I was so tired, sometimes I accidentally connect my network to the main computer–”

You’re visibly embarrassed but Tim cuts him off this time, “Is this relevant?”

“Very,” Dick answers promptly. “One day Jericho sees you. He noticed some of the scars on your arms and the bruises and everything else, and then he quickly questioned me if you were trained by the League of Assassins–”

“No,” Tim interrupts.

“What? What’s that?” you intervene, suddenly feeling the panic.

Bruce grunts, “Are you sure?”

“Trust me. I was skeptical at first. But Jericho’s father is Slade and Slade was trained by the League. And we know for a fact that the League has a way to bring back the dead–”

“The Lazarus pit,” Bruce interrupts. He quickly leaves to head back inside the manor. Dick and Tim bound after him, and you follow them, Alfred trailing behind you.

“Bruce, I came here because we both know the Lazarus pit was destroyed years ago. Before Jason even became Robin,” Dick catches up to him as they enter the grandfather clock.

“There’s another pit,” Tim chimes in.

“That’s what I want to know. Where is it? And when are we leaving?”

“I’m coming with you,” you say without thinking. You seem to be doing that a lot more these days.

Everyone stops in front of the shaft and glares at you. Simultaneously they say, “No.”

You look at them like they’re ridiculous. You shove your way into the shaft and cross your arms until they get in.

“Y/N,” Alfred says, “You must stay with me in the cave. We can better help them from here.”

You clutch your shoulders, “No way. I am not tuning in to Jason’s feelings anymore. I–I can’t do it.”

Tim shakes his head gently, “You don’t have to. You can always watch the monitors with Alfred while we’re away.”

“Tim, you’re not going.”

“What? Bruce–”

“He’s right, Tim. Imagine… how will Jason react when he sees you?”

Silence follows your descent. All you hear are the gears turning and the metal shaft hitting the cave floor. Bruce is the first to step out and you’re left in the shaft with Tim.

You put your hand on his shoulder and squeeze, “I know you want him back, too, and I know you’re just as scared of what’ll happen if he finds out.” Tim still doesn’t look at you. “Please, Tim. I need you here. In case… in case…”

Tim holds your hand and stares at you, “We’ll get him back.”

You’ve spent enough time with Tim to know that he’s a big fan of Jason’s when he was a Robin. Despite not being directly involved, he feels personally connected to Jason’s death as well, since it was his investigation into Jason Todd’s death and the disappearance of Robin that led him to Batman.

You know Tim has worked hard for this job. More than Jason and even more than Dick. He’s a great detective and this also comes into play in the way he fights. Whenever you stayed with Alfred in front of the monitor, you can see Tim assessing the situation seconds before he leaps into action. Most of the time he would wait for the enemy to strike so he can get a quick glimpse of their stance, then exploits it.

More than anything, you also know how painful it must be for Tim to have to stay back. How much he’s itching to be part of the rescue that’ll bring back Jason. But he’s also smart enough to know that Bruce is right.

“Are you sure that’s the one?” both of you hear Dick because he’s following Bruce who’s walking back toward you.

“Y/N,” Bruce says, “in the past, when you used your link with Jason, did you ever feel too hot in the morning or too cold during the day?”

It’s a little strange but now that you think about it. You turned up the AC every night and stayed out under the sun in the afternoon. You nod, “Does it help that sometimes I feel like the wind carries little bits of grain with it?”

Bruce nods, “He’s in Eth Alth'eban. It’s a sacred city hidden somewhere on the Arabian Peninsula in the middle of a desert. That’s the only fortress that didn’t have a pit before Dick and I destroyed them all. Ra’s must have built a new Lazarus there.”

This all suddenly feels like it’s too easy. “How come you didn’t think of this before?” the words were out before you could think of the consequence, “Why is all of this only coming together now? Why does it feel like we shouldn’t have had to wait almost a year to come to this conclusion?”

“Y/N–” Alfred tries to answer you but Bruce holds up his hand.

He looks at you calmly, “The first night you spent here, I went to every single League location to look for the Lazarus pit. This has always been my first hunch. But in my desperation to find Jason, to find my son, I was sloppy.” You suddenly find that you can’t hold Bruce’s gaze anymore.

“I didn’t think that Ra’s was expecting me. He knew I would be looking for Jason so every single location I went to was empty prior to my arrival. That should’ve been my first hunch. But I was so determined to find Jason, I went to the next person who could be responsible.”

Bruce didn’t have to say who it was. The skin on your arms prickled with electricity just from the thought of him.

“I wasted so much time. He just kept on talking and talking and I…” Bruce is staring at his hands. Dick finally stops him with a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s time to go.”

Bruce walks away without saying another word. You watch far away in the sidelines while they suit up and pack up to leave. Finally, when they’re about to get on the plane, you run up to Bruce.

“I’m sorry. I know I’ve been difficult and I–”

Bruce squeezes your shoulder, “We’re bringing him back, Y/N.”

You hug Bruce before letting him go. You hug Dick, too, and whisper a ‘be safe’. The moment their plane leaves the hangar, you and Tim prop yourselves in front of the monitor with Alfred at the center.

The three of you stay silent as Bruce and Dick compare more notes, updates on the League of Assassin’s recent activity, reminders of their traps and weakness, and strategies on how to approach their destination.

Before you know it, their plane is descending and Batman and Nightwing are traveling via ATVs along the sandy terrain. You’re already at the edge of your seat when a fortress finally looms over the horizon. It looks like it was carved from a huge rock that hid neatly among the mounds of sand.

The moment they set foot on the grounds, Tim is shaking his head, “This isn’t good.” You look at him, worry lines all over his face, “They should have seen someone by now. Anyone.”

Once they enter the main hall, they see everyone. Assassins clad in black laying face down on the ground with their swords scattered away from them and their bodies are riddled with bullet holes. At the center, lay a man in tattered red and orange garments and a woman beside him.

Bruce picks up the woman and checks her pulse. Suddenly she grabs at his throat and glares at him. But once recognition dawns on her, her eyes soften and her hand moves to caress his cheek. “My beloved.”

Your whole body shivers at the sound of her voice. You know it’s her. The one Jason was with. The woman whose fingers kept running through your hair.

Bruce glares down at her, “Where’s Jason?”

Talia’s eyes narrow in sadness and she closes them as she shakes her head. “He ambushed the League. He killed them all.”

Before she could even finish her words, you’re already lifting up your knees to hide your face.

“He’s gone, beloved.”


	7. Jason loses you

Bruce glares down at her, “Where’s Jason?”

Talia’s eyes narrow in sadness and she closes them as she shakes her head. “He betrayed the League. He killed them all.”

Before she could even finish her words, you’re already lifting up your knees to hide your face.

“He’s gone, beloved.”

Jason stares at the ceiling in his room, absentmindedly caressing his arms, finally wondering if he’ll ever see your words on his arms again. After what happened, what he did, he expected you to write strings of profanities and some words of disappointment or sadness. He at least expected a strong punch in the gut but all he’s received is silence.

He’s drowning in the silence of his room. The silence of his days and nights. The silence even the wind brings in the desert. So many times he’s found himself clutching the fountain pen but never dipping it in the ink bottle. Only hovering its tip over his skin. He knows he’s done something extremely wrong and he can never redeem himself.

But then he thinks, why does it matter? Just because you were born with the link, doesn’t mean anything. He thinks that every time he gets knocked down in training. He considers it while he watches his wounds bleed and stain his clothes. He thinks of you whenever he coughs blood into his palms.

He can’t say sorry. He knows how but he doesn’t want to. He tells himself he needs this. These little bouts and drills are necessary for the future he wants, a future without his murderer. He’s just not sure if he wants you in it. Or if you’ll want him.

Frustrated, Jason rubs his head, messing up his hair, and locks himself in his room without dinner. He closes his windows, turns off the lights, and lies still on his bed. He shuts his eyes and takes one last deep breath before numbing his body to the cold air in his room and the soft cotton bed.

The first thing he feels from you is warmth. Then there’s a cackle like fire eating away at a piece of wood. He can feel the heat on his face and palms and he can almost see you sitting in front of the large fireplace at the manor.

He focuses on his auditory senses but doesn’t hear anything, just the fire and wood softly echoing in the room. Then he hears the large wooden door slowly open along with a voice he hasn’t heard in years.

“Y/N.” He can hear his father. His voice is so gentle and wary. Jason wonders if he used that voice to whisper apologies to his own dead body when he found him. “Dick called me because you weren’t answering his calls.”

“Oh. I left my phone in my room.”

Your voice still floods every fiber in Jason’s body. His body shivers, almost breaking his concentration. He hasn’t heard your voice for the longest time and it’s only now that he realizes how much he misses it.

“I’ll tell him.” Jason doesn’t hear the wooden door close. Only the crackling fire continues to fill the room with sound. “I’m not going to ask you what happened but I want you to know that you can always talk to me about it. It may not seem like it but I am a good listener.”

Jason almost wants to laugh with joy. For a moment, he’s happy that Bruce is taking care of you. Treating you with as much care and sympathy as he did for him.

“Do you…” Jason feels you nibbling on your lips before you continue speaking, “Is there a way to get rid of a soulmate link?” you whisper.

Jason suddenly feels whiplashed. His body has gone stiff with his mouth open and his brows furrowed, creasing close together at the center.

“It’s not the bruises or the bleeding– It’s just—”

Bruce waits a few more seconds before prodding, “Just?”

“Just,” you reply with finality. “Thank you, Bruce. I’ll go ahead and text Dick.”

Jason feels the warmth of the fire disappear from your face.

“Y/N, after we find Jason, I’ll help you find a way. If that’s still what you want.”

Jason doesn’t hear you reply. After a moment, the next thing he feels is soft cotton on his face, warm tears on his cheeks, and nothing else for the rest of the night. When Jason wakes up, his own eyes are strained and tears have dried up on his own cheeks.

“You seem distracted,” Talia frowns as he scrutinizes Jason who quickly goes defensive.

“I’m not.”

Talia doesn’t say anything but she keeps watching him throughout the day. The extra pair of eyes on him during training does not help him feel any better. He’s making mistakes he wouldn’t have as Robin and he keeps glaring at Talia until she leaves with a huff.

Finally done for the day, Jason takes a stroll around the compound, something he’s taken to doing ever since you stopped writing. He wants to be sure he knew every nook and cranny of the place where he’s being held. 

One of his favorite spots was an empty well half-concealed by foliage. He believes it’s directly under one of the tunnels connecting the fortress into the sacred city, a tunnel off-limits to assassins in training, so he’s been toiling his restless nights digging away at it absently-mindedly.

“We may need to bring the soulmate in.”

Talia’s calculating voice floats down the well as her shadow looms over Jason. He quickly panics but notices that Talia has her back turned to the well. Jason quickly flattens himself against the wall directly closest to Talia and Ra’s Al Ghul and slows down his breathing.

“He still thinks we don’t know about the link. It could be our last chance to keep the boy in our control.”

Ra’s grunts, “You know as well as I do how much more difficult that contingency plan is.”

“Yes. My beloved has taken in a new ward. But we both know he’s not training Y/N. She’s still an easy target.”

Jason grit his teeth. Your name passing through Talia’s lips does not sit well with him, especially the implication of what they have planned for you. What they’ve always planned for you.

Ra’s is quiet for a while. A distant call catches both of their attention. “If the boy continues to fare poorly, then we may revisit this discussion.”

Jason doesn’t go back to his room. Fueled by anger, frustration, and a grave sense of panic, he stays inside the deep well. After hours pacing back and forth in the darkness, forcing his breathing to calm down unsuccessfully, he stomps and jumps in anger inside the well. The dirt floor muted his feet but it cracked under his weight.

A small patch of earth gave way and Jason fell through. He landed on hard ground in what seemed to be a man-made tunnel. The very tunnel he’s been digging to see.

Then everything clicks inside his head. Quick-thinking and resourceful, like a true Robin. Jason looks up through the hole until he finds the moon halfway to its apex and estimates what time it is. From what he’s heard from the other assassins, the city is only an hour ride away from the fortress so he might just have enough time to run there and back before his morning training.

Eth Alth'eban was a small city filled with priest warriors. They valued their faith and religion above everything. They prided themselves as people of great devotion and resilience. While the League of Assassins saw them as an obstacle over the land where the new Lazarus pit can thrive. 

It took one week for the League to completely bring the sacred city down. Less than that to completely break down the citizens’ wills and only four days to corrupt half of their souls.

Human trafficking. That was the new-age problem the League had employed to completely eradicate a city of devotion and resilience. They kidnapped their children, and then their women, and sold them to the next cities over. Once they fought their warriors, they were so enraged, they’ve lost all reason and that’s when the League had the upper hand.

They defeated them but didn’t kill them. They fought the warriors of Eth Alth'eban until they were on their knees begging for mercy. Blood running down their face and saliva spitting from their mouth every time they pleaded. The assassins took one look at them and then walked away.

That was their mistake. Once Jason had made it to the city, he immediately locates a small resistance of young people, children of the warriors the League had shamed. Without caution but with complete determination, he strides up to them with his hands up and states his purpose clear and loud.

They stare at him like he’s crazy. Jason thinks he is crazy. But there’s no time and he knows what they want and how to make them agree. The group look at each other in question until the tallest one finally speaks.

“If what you say is true, how do you expect us to go up against the League of Assassins in one night?”

Jason grins, finally getting somewhere, much sooner than he thought. “We’re going to need guns. Lots of it.”

A few months later, Jason stands front and center, surrounded by assassins and stared down by Ra’s Al Ghul. It’s one of those nights where a training member is given the chance to challenge a fully-fledged assassin. If they pass, it’s a sign that they no longer need training and they have achieved their first kill.

The League is in shock when Jason walks past the assassins, the elite members, and stands right in front of Ra’s. By League tradition, only a blood-relative or a betrothed can challenge Ra’s, a fight for the position of the Demon Head.

Jason chuckles, “I’m just messing with you.” He laughs boisterously as the room goes sour. Some of the young assassins try to stifle their snickers but Ra’s, Talia, and the elite members are not amused. 

“Do you think this is funny? Is the League truly a joke to you?” Talia snaps at him.

Jason doesn’t look at her. “I wasn’t trying to be funny.” He turns around to look at the full number of the League. He turns to the shadows in the darkness, counting the silhouettes surrounding the premises overhead. Absentmindedly he replies, “I was trying to get out of the way.”

Bullets rain down like hellfire. Ra’s shouts orders. Talia pulls out her sword. But Jason is faster and he shoots both of them in the chest before they could even take a step toward him. He shoots them two more times along their torso and doesn’t wait for the youth of Eth Alth'eban to finish fulfilling their lifelong dream of vengeance.

Jason sneaks away and finally escapes the fortress that has held him and shaped him for a whole year. The League of Assassins are bad guys, villains, but their methods are right. How can evil truly leave Gotham if Batman never stops it from breathing?

Jason’s first destination is home, smuggling himself aboard a cargo ship and slipping into the city under the Bat’s radar. He doesn’t go straight to Wayne manor even though his feet are itching to come running to you. To his home.

“So close yet so fucking far,” he whispers to himself as he waits for another night of darkness to veil the city and deafen it with sirens. He has been waiting for one big villainous operation that can distract the Bats for a few hours. He plans on going to Wayne manor and take you with him, away from Gotham and go anywhere in the world.

Finally, from the surveillance he’s planted at every exit of the cave, he sees them leave at the same time, leaving you and Alfred in the manor. Jason still knows the property like the back of his hand and uses the shadows and blind spots to make his way toward the back entrance.

He suddenly stops when he sees you on a balcony, the balcony of his room. Your arms are crossed. Your eyes are staring directly ahead at the horizon of the foggy and blurry Gotham skyline.

“It’s warmer tonight. Did you find a better place?”

At first, Jason thinks you saw him.

“I bet you hated the sand getting in your hair and on your face,” you chuckle softly. “I stopped getting seasick so I’m guessing you’ve finally arrived… wherever it is you’re trying to get to.”

Jason slowly crouches down beneath the balcony, pressing his back against the brick wall and straining his ears to hear you better, letting your voice replenish him like an oasis in the desert.

“Dick thinks you’re here. In Gotham. That’s why they’ve been out there every single night. Scouring the city for you. Hoping you’re not injured. Hoping you’re fine. Hoping you haven’t completely turned to the dark side…”

You pause for a breath and your voice sounds different when you speak next. Quiet. Sadder. “I hope you’re not injured. I hope you’re well. I also hope you’re not here.”

Jason closes his eyes and leans his head against the wall, searing pain tearing through his chest.

“After what you did, Jason… Bruce thinks the first thing you’ll do in Gotham is kill the Joker.”

Your next words come in an even softer voice, almost strained, “Then maybe Tim…”

Jason opens his eyes. All relief has been washed away from his body. Why don’t you think he’ll see you first?

“I hope he’s wrong. I hope you decided to leave this life and choose a better one. You’ve always been scrappy, Jason. You can achieve anything you put your mind to.”

Jason hears you sigh along with the shiver that goes through your body.

“I don’t know if you’re listening this time. I felt you listening before, sometimes when I’m at the fireplace, or down in the cave, or pretending to be asleep… If you’re listening now, and if you’re in Gotham City… turn back. Take this second chance. Find a new purpose–”

Jason’s heard enough. He slams the wall with his fist and rushes from the shadows until he’s off the property.

You’re startled. You quickly scan the property for any movement but you just miss the figure retreating into the distance. Back into Gotham City.


End file.
